Ask Anything Wednesday: Material on Witnessing to Mormons

Welcome to Ask Anything Wednesday. This month I received two great questions, so I'll answer the first this week and the second next Wednesday. At the same time, please keep the questions rolling in! Just submit your question--on anything!--in the comments section below and I'll consider responding to it in our monthly feature.

Question:
"What do you suggest I read to learn to better witness to Mormons?"

Answer:
While I have responded to a similar question before, I appreciate the opportunity to expand my answer. In considering books, I highly suggest reading Mark Cares' Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons. Cares is a Lutheran pastor in Idaho who has faithfully witnessed to Mormons for years. His book is easily the best work that I have read on this topic. Additionally, his ministry's web site has a lot of helpful information and his blog is also excellent.

There are many helpful resources elsewhere on the web as well. James White's "Verse Memorization System: Verses Relevant to Sharing the Gospel with Mormons" is very useful. You could learn a lot from web sites such as Mormonism Research Ministry, the Institute for Religious Research's Mormons in Transition, the Mormonism section of 4Truth.net, and others.

If you would like to learn more about Mormonism in general and how their beliefs are different from historic Christianity, I suggest checking out Is the Mormon My Brother?, Mormon America, and Mormonism 101. And if you are firm in your faith and want to dig deep, nothing can replace actually reading Mormon sources themselves. I would start with Gospel Principles.

I could continue, but I'm afraid that this list has already become too long. Feel free to ask me additional questions on witnessing to Mormons. Praise God for your desire to bring the light of the true Jesus Christ to Latter-day Saints!

Ask Anything Wednesday Tomorrow

Ask Anything Wednesday is tomorrow! Do you have any questions about the Africa Center for Apologetics Research? Do you have a question about witnessing to cult members? Do you want to know what I am reading right now? Anything is fair game!

Just ask and I'll try to answer it. The easiest way to submit a question for tomorrow is simply to post it as a comment below. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Witchcraft in Africa

Since our culture celebrates Halloween this week, I thought it would be good to briefly focus on the reality of witchcraft. Too often we think of witches on brooms, classic Disney movies, or Harry Potter. We may also consider the Salem witch trials or the rise of Wicca in the western world. But I am not referring to any of these things. If we want to understand the very real presence of witchcraft, we need to turn to Africa.

Witchcraft is an ever-present reality in Africa. Witches are generally an integral part of African Traditional Religions, acting as intermediaries between people, the living-dead, and the Supreme God. Even today, with the growth of Christianity and Islam throughout the continent, witchcraft beliefs and practices remain strong.

In the Africa Bible Commentary, Nigerian church leader and scholar Samuel Waje Kunhiyop writes:

Belief in witchcraft is approaching epidemic proportions in Africa. While it is easy to understand how nominal Christians can cling to this deep-seated belief, it is disturbing that it is widespread among Christians too. Christian rituals are sometimes seen as little more than a form of protection against witchcraft. Thus mothers 'cover' the beds of their children with the blood of Jesus to ward off witches and evil spirits before putting them to bed. It is also 'poured' on roads to ward off the witches who cause accidents.

The Bible does not support the doctrines of demons, evil spirits and witchcraft that derive from traditional beliefs, but many professing Christians are unaware of what the Bible teaches on this subject. One reason for this is the tendency to interpret the Bible in terms of established opinions and beliefs. Church leaders and missionaries have also tended to dismiss witchcraft as mere superstition, rather than developing an adequate understanding of it rooted in the doctrine of evil. There is an urgent need for the culturally postulated reality of witchcraft to be addressed pastorally with seriousness, sensitivity and respect (374).

The church of Jesus Christ needs to take witchcraft seriously. Syncretism (the mixing of different religious beliefs) is a serious problem in Africa. Christians go to church on Sundays and then to the witchdoctor during the week. Even pastors corrupt God's revealed truth by combining it with witchcraft.

Christians in Africa need to see how our faith relates to all of life. As Kunhiyop says, witchcraft must be addressed. To counter this challenge, I have been researching witchcraft in Africa. You can see my reviews of Free Indeed From Sorcery Bondage and Who Are The Living-Dead? as well as the book notice for Unveiling Witchcraft.

Lord willing, through our ministry many Africans will be set free from the bondage of witchcraft through the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Weekly Round-Up: Gadaffi and Islam, God in Kampala, Faith in Africa, and Theology Weekend

Here's this week's round-up:

1) "Gadaffi crowned ‘King of Kings’ as he seeks to create ‘Africa govt’" in the East African newspaper (Kenya). Here's an article I recently came across on Libyan leader Gadaffi's continued involvement in Africa. If you haven't seen his zeal for spreading Islam throughout the continent yet, then make sure to watch our video on his mosque in Uganda.

2) "God of This City--Kampala, Uganda" (video). I cannot put into words how much this video caused me to long to move to Uganda. Watch it!

Africa - God of This City from Katlin Miller on Vimeo.
3) "Living on the Seam of History: African Christianity Part 4, My Neighbour's Faith by John Azumah" on the Koinonia blog. This post has several excerpts from Ghanaian scholar Azumah on the multi-faith environment in Africa. We are left with much to dwell on.

4) Kevin Larson, "Theology Weekend 2008 Just Ahead" on the Karis Blog. Kevin is a good friend of mine and this will be an awesome weekend addressing an essential topic. Who wouldn't want to hear a debate on "Only One Way? A Forum and Discussion about Jesus and Salvation" with Dr. Bruce Ware? If you are in the area, you'll want to check this out for yourself.

Happy Anniversary to You, James White

In light of the 25th anniversary of the founding of Alpha and Omega Ministries, those impacted by James White over the years were invited to write about how the Lord has used him in their lives. Below is my testimonial. While he may still post this on his blog, I also wanted my readers to know how much respect I have for Dr. White and his ministry.


Dr. White,

You can count me as another follower of Christ deeply impacted by your ministry. While I was raised as a Mormon, I came to a crisis of faith in college. I was trying to convince my girlfriend (now my wife) of the "fullness of the gospel" when I began to see overwhelming evidence against Mormonism which simply could not be refuted. By God's grace, I found real freedom in the true Jesus Christ.

At the same time, He used you to help me navigate through the many challenges that I was struggling with. Many of your books made Christ's revealed truth understandable. Is the Mormon My Brother?, The Forgotten Trinity, and The Potter's Freedom are just a few of your books that were foundational in my budding faith. As a tech-geek, I read through much of your web site (even though you struggled to keep it up-to-date!) and started listening to the Dividing Line online (back when it was still a Phoenix radio show). Once I began seminary, my fellow schoolmates and friends would get tired of me mentioning you so they poked fun in return by always asking "what does James White say?"

Even to this day, God continues to use you in my spiritual growth. Your blog is in my feed reader. I continue listening to the Dividing Line and reading your books. My wife and I were even able to finally meet you in person through being a part of last fall's AOMin cruise. I have included a picture of us together from the cruise.

You have been a gift from God in my life as well as a gift of God to His church. Without you, I can honestly say that I would not be preparing to defend our Lord against cults and error in East Africa. I pray that Christ will continue to bless your ministry as you "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints"!

Because of His grace,
John Divito
Director, Africa Center for Apologetics Research
Web Site: http://www.acfar.org/
Blog: africacfar.blogspot.com

Cross-Cultural Stress in Marriage

My family continues to prepare serving Christ in East Africa. While we have a lot to get ready for in our ministry, we also face fundamental changes in our personal lives. How will our move across cultures impact our marriage? What will it mean for our family? How will we be discipling our children in Africa?

This month's Evangelical Missions Quarterly is devoted to helping address these crucial questions, and I have benefited greatly from its articles. One was written by Sue Eenigenburg, "Preparing Missionary Couples for Cultural Stress." She begins by confessing to getting so frustrated in her cross-cultural challenges that she considered leaving her husband in the mission field. Eenigenburg says:

Culture stress can make or break a marriage. My husband and I had a solid foundation for our marriage and went to minister overseas after eight good years of marriage and three children. I would have never imagined that I would find myself daydreaming about leaving him. With the language and cultural differences, the stress of dealing with ministry in and out of our home, keeping up with laundry, and cooking and cleaning for our family of six, I was ready for a trip to Hawaii--without him and the kids. I felt tempted to charge my trip to his account and let him take care of the bill, the kids, and the laundry. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to come back (422).

I appreciate her openness and honesty. I am also glad that she devotes the rest of her article to helping missionary couples prepare for the cross-cultural stressors that can challenge and even overwhelm the best marriages. She lists twelve: 1) lack of privacy, 2) public displays of affection, 3) time spent together, 4) competition in language [acquisition], 5) competition in ministry, 6) physical distress, 7) emotional issues, 8) feeling pressure, 9) treatment of spouse, 10) spending time together, 11) expectation of roles, and 12) environment.

Eenigenburg then provides missionary couples with six steps to proactively face these stressors as well as lists 25 questions and ideas to discuss before moving overseas. She has packed a great deal of helpful information into the few pages of this article. I may not be able to provide all of her suggestions in this post (if you are interested in learning more, I highly recommend checking out her article), but she has definitely caused me to realize the need to work through these issues now, before we move to Uganda.

Please pray for my wife and I as we prepare to serve our Lord in East Africa. I ask that you not only pray for our ministry but also for our marriage and our family. We continue to trust in Christ, knowing that only He can provide the strength we need to successfully handle the cultural stress we will face. May my wife and I glorify our Savior together!

Weekly Round-Up: Prosperity Gospel, Sserulanda Spiritual Foundation, Emergent Movement, and Ethics in Africa

Here's this week's round-up:

1) "How preachers fleece their poor flock," "Poor worshippers pay for preachers’ lavish lifestyles," "Regulate churches - religious leaders," and "Tame errant churches" in the Daily Nation newspaper (Kenya). This newspaper dedicated several articles in an issue from last week to the problem of the prosperity gospel and those taking advantage of Christians for financial gain. These reports are truly saddening. May the true gospel of Christ expose this counterfeit gospel!

2) Carol Natukunda, "Religious sect stores dead bodies" in the New Vision newspaper (Uganda). Here is yet another report on the Sserulanda Nsulo Yobulamu Spiritual Foundation led by Mugonza Bambi Baaba, a "god in human form". This sect will definitely need to be closely monitored.

3) Tim Keel, "Video: Amahoro Africa" on the Emergent Village Weblog. The Emergent movement in Africa? Yes, this largely heretical group continues to make inroads in Africa. Now they even have a slick video. Be sure to watch for Brian McLaren:

Amahoro Africa from Andy Michael on Vimeo.
4) "Living on the Seam of History: African Christianity Part 4" on the Koinonia blog. The latest post in this series on African Christianity focuses on ethics. As always, there is much to think about.